1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to facilitating communication between various disparate applications and systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to logging into and out of multiple disparate applications and systems, while enabling such applications and systems to track the activities of the user and maintain state. Further, the present invention relates to providing an interface for the user that seamlessly displays information and data from the multiple disparate applications and systems as user accesses the same applications and systems.
2. The Relevant Technology
Storing and controlling information and knowledge has been a continual challenge and pursuit of individuals and businesses alike. From managing access to information stored on paper or microfilm products to protecting information stored on magnetic or optical media, individuals and businesses attempt to control access to and use of selected information. With advances in technology in recent years, the amount of available information has increased dramatically, with the potential for growth in the quantity and quality of available information in the future.
One development that promotes access to different information and knowledge is the Internet. Through the Internet, individuals and businesses can access an assortment of repositories containing varied materials. Typically, web-based repositories limit access to their resources through requiring users to open an account or otherwise become a registered user. Users of these sites commonly create a user account through a registration process that lets the user choose a user identity and a password; i.e. “credentials.” Once registered, the user can login to the web site and access the protected resources within the repository.
In addition to the Internet, many organizations and businesses develop intranets or networks to populate information and knowledge between the members of the organization or business. Typically, such intranets are based upon TCP/IP protocols, and are accessible only to authorized employees or users associated with the particular organization or business. These intranets can display information and knowledge as web pages and can use uniform resource locators (URLs) to identify the location of such web pages within the intranet.
One type of organization that can use an intranet is a university or similar institution. A university's intranet typically connects the various buildings and departments and facilitates communication between students, faculty, alumni, and university administration. The user of the network will have a credential to access certain information available through the network. Unfortunately, each user may have multiple identities and credentials to access multiple repositories or different services provided by the university or institution. For instance, a user may use one set of credentials to access an electronic mail (email) account, while using a different set of credentials to access their library account.
Further, each user may have multiple identities and credentials to access external systems or applications not included within the university's network, but which they frequently access from university computers. For example, a student may have credentials allowing the student to use online research resources related to the student's major. Consequently, many users must remember multiple identities and credentials to access different information repositories or services accessible through the university's intranet and the Internet. Attempting to remember multiple identities and credentials is problematic and provides a fertile field for forgotten or inaccurately input identity information or credentials as a user attempts to access resources and information.
In addition to problems associated with remembering multiple identities and credentials, various systems or applications accessible through the intranet or Internet typically require each user to separately access such systems or platforms. For instance, a user may research a project using a third-party system, enroll in courses through another application, system, or platform, and send electronic mail messages through yet another application or system. The user, therefore, must switch from one application or system to another to perform the desired activities and input the requisite identity and credential information. This is a time consuming and tedious process to perform each time a user changes activities.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved methods and systems that overcome or avoid the above problems and limitations.